ABSTRACT
The previous chapter concentrated upon the dismantling of apartheid. It recorded that in certain spheres of activity apartheid has been effectively deconstructed. The new constitution, together with the new governmental structures, is essentially non-racial and administered on a colour-blind basis. Following this achievement, significant efforts have been made to promote a feeling of united nationhood in which all are active participants. Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s concept of the ‘rainbow nation’ was significant as an attempt to blend together the disparate ethnic groups promoted separately by the previous government, and give them a sense of common purpose, while they retained their own individuality (Ramutsindela 1997). This concept of diversity was complemented by the promotion of an awareness of the common African heritage of the citizenry as part of the realization of an African Renaissance espoused by President Thabo Mbeki (1998). Such a national concept has evoked varied responses in other African states which recognize the diversity of identities and relationships to the government and its leadership (Mamdani 1996). It also reflects the absence in South Africa of ‘an ethnic core around whose values (language, history, mythology) a nation could be constructed’ (Simpson 1993: 19). Tokyo Sexwale, first premier of Gauteng, appealed for a more inclusive and unified view of the nation: ‘If blacks get hurt, I get hurt. If whites get hurt, that’s my wife, and if you harm coloured people, you’re looking for my children. Your unity embodies who I am’ (Sunday Times, 27 June 1999: 19).
